'This bird has flown': A look at the Independent on Sunday's final issue
The Independent on Sunday has today (20 March) published its final issue, with editor Lisa Markwell using her last leader to lament how the paper's print run is "over too soon".
The Sunday title's farewell comes ahead of the final issue of the Independent, which will be published this coming Friday (March 26).
Following sister paper i's sale to Johnson Press for £24m last month, the broadsheet is set to become the first national newspaper title to go digital-only.
Under the headline 'Lights Out', the striking final front page showed a cityscape of dimly-lit Shanghai during Earth Hour.
The message below read: ‘Here is the last print edition of this newspaper, but the news never stops...’
The accompanying New Review supplement in the paper chose to sign off with 'This Bird has Flown', featuring the eagle from the newspaper's iconic masthead on both the front and back cover.
A few reflective pieces on the paper's 26-year history were scattered throughout its sign-off edition but the agenda was largely focused around news as usual.
Markwell said she "wasn't ready for the hacks' retirement home just yet," adding: "Looking back over the Sindy's 26 years, the courage of its campaigns, the verve and intelligence of its reporters, the beauty of its many designs (particularly The New Review) – Britain has been lucky to have it. And from the letters and emails I've received, many of you will feel its loss keenly.
"It has been an enormous privilege to be the Sindy's editor these past three years, from the moment the proprietor called to tell me with the words, "Congratulations… I'm going to tweet the news in five minutes" to the last-night party we'll be recovering from as you read this."
An add encouraging readers to sign up to the paper's digital edition also featured a few pages in.
The first issue of the Independent on Sunday went to print in 1990 with Stephen Glover as editor.